He Is Happy

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Torres recently acknowledged just how unhappy he was last season. In an interview with El Pais (via The Guardian) he said:

I had team-mates who didn't care if the team won or lost because they were not playing...I never wanted to be like that. [But] one day I discovered that I was like them, that it didn't matter it we won or lost if I was not playing. I wasn't part of the group. I discovered that I was not happy because I had stopped being what I had always wanted to be. In the dressing room, you can never lose that group concept.

Under Andre Villas-Boas, Torres was becoming an ever more peripheral figure on the Chelsea team.

His struggle to find playing time combined with his lack of goals were taking their toll on his mental attitude.

And it was this attitude that had the greatest effect on his game.

Just from watching him play, you could tell that Torres was not in the right frame of mind. He looked like a man with the cares of the world upon his shoulders.

Having finally settled in, the Spaniard seems infinitely happier, and it shows in the way that he is playing.

He Is Contributing to the Team

Torres himself has indicated that his all-round game has improved since moving to Chelsea.

In that same interview with El Pais (via The Guardian), he said "I can now do things that I was not able to before...[I] worked hard on it."

Before, Torres was expected to score goals, and lots of them. Of course, he is still expected to score goals, only now he has more to give the team besides that.

Take the Blues' win over Nordsjaelland. Torres did not score in that game, yet he had one of his best games this season. He tracked back to win the ball for the all-important first goal, and he played a key part in many of the big moves of the game.

This is perhaps the biggest reason why Torres is set to have his best season to date.

He may not score as many goals as he did before, but he will certainly have a more crucial role to play in whether Chelsea win or lose each match.